FDA Issues a Warning Letter to Jimmy John’s
Over the past seven years the popular sandwich restaurant franchise, Jimmy John’s, has been linked to multiple E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks. On February 21, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent the sandwich franchise a Warning Letter which included detailed information of the five past outbreaks linked to the Jimmy John’s restaurants as well as steps that the restaurant franchise needs to take if they do not wish to receive enforcement action from FDA due to their negligence and multiple violations. In their warning letter, the FDA stated that the past five outbreaks linked to Jimmy Johns have been caused by “adulterated fresh produce”, in these specific outbreaks the contaminated produce was clover sprouts and cucumbers.
In their Warning Letter the FDA described five specific outbreaks linked to Jimmy John’s restaurants which have occurred in the past seven years:
- The most recent outbreak in the warning letter transpired from November to December 2019, it was an coli O103 (STEC) linked to sprouts served at Jimmy John’s restaurants in Iowa. As of January 7, 2020, a total of 22 cases of illnesses linked to the outbreak were reported by the Iowa Department of Public Health, according to the FDA all affected people reported eating sprouts at one of 15 Jimmy Johns location before becoming ill. The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals also discovered that the time of the outbreak all 15 locations received clover sprout from Sprouts Unlimited.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a Salmonella Montevideo outbreak that affected 10 people as of February 28, 2018. The outbreak was linked to sprouts served at Jimmy John’s restaurants in Illinois and Wisconsin. While interviewing the affected people it was discovered that 8 of the 10 had eaten sprouts from Jimmy John’s location prior to becoming ill.
- On August 1, 2014, the CDC stated that they had received 19 reported cases linked to an coli O121 outbreak from Idaho, Montana, Michigan, Utah, California, and Washington. After interviewing those affected it was discovered that clover sprouts were the most probable culprits of the outbreak. Thanks to the FDA’s traceback investigation 11 of the 19 affected identified 7 points of services from which they could have come in contact with the sprouts, 5 of the points of service were Jimmy Johns restaurants.
- At the end of October 2013, the CDC announced an coli O157: H7 (STEC) outbreak linked to cucumbers. A total of 8 cases were reported in Colorado linked to the E. coli outbreak. The eight people affected by the outbreak reported eating raw cucumbers at one of three Jimmy John’s restaurants in the Denver metro area.
- The last outbreak mentioned in the FDA warning letter was an coli O26 outbreak linked to sprouts announced on April 5, 2012. The outbreak affected a total of 29 people in eleven states, 23 of those affected reported eating sprouts from one of 6 Jimmy John’s restaurants at least seven days before becoming ill.
The FDA stated that in both the 2012 and 2019 outbreaks Jimmy John’s stated that corrective actions were implemented, but they have not provided FDA with any information demonstrating long-term, sustainable corrections to prevent the same violation from recurring in the future. According to the FDA, Jimmy John’s should be responsible for investigating and determining the causes of the violations and ensuring that the firm complies with all requirements of federal law and implementing regulations. The FDA said they can and will seize products and enact a permanent injunction if the firm is unable to respond with the actions they are taking to address the violations.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/25/health/jimmy-johns-fda-warning-letter/index.html
